Insects are arthropods characterized by having a pair of antennae, three pairs of legs, and two pairs of wings (which can be deducted or missing). Insects are the most diverse group in the planet, and there is a huge diversity of species with around one million described species, which can be found in almost every environment in the planet.
Insects represent one of the animal classes most interrelated with human activities. From useful insects that provide us with honey or silk, up to poisonous insects, or insects that can transmit deadly diseases. There is an endless number of species that are directly or indirectly related to the human beings (Newman, L. H. 1971).
Insects play a role in the environment. They are the main predators of other invertebrates; thus, they control plagues. They decompose and eliminate a significant percentage of organic matter, and they are the main pollinizers of environmentally and economically relevant plants. Nevertheless, due to their high abundance, they are considered a harmful group, as they consume around a third of the crops at a global level, and they are the main carriers of human diseases (Brusca y Brusca, 2002).
Insects have always lived around humans, and they are a part of the ecological balance of the Earth, as they are food for birds, reptiles, and other insects. On the other hand, many insects transmit serious diseases, such as dengue, Chagas disease, zika, chikungunfa, yellow fever, malaria, among other diseases; thus, being able to keep them under control is very important.
There are several insect control methods, such as biologic control, chemical control (insecticide, pesticide, acaricide, nematicide, systemic, and non-systemic insecticides, organic controls, among others.
There are insecticide products in the market such as sprays, plates, creams, and plastic and paper tapes, and anti-insects Paint, with different degrees of efficiency. Nevertheless, these products have a low residuality, and high costs, in addition to having a strong smell, and being toxic for human beings. Also, some of them contain pesticides as active ingredients, which are harmful to human health. Most of the products in the market do not comply with the claims in their labels regarding timing and functionality. These products are rather expensive; thus, they are limited to people or companies with a high purchasing power, the low-income class being the one exposed to the highest risk of infection due to insect bites.
Microencapsulation is a technique that is more and more used, and its applications have drawn the attention of many technology fields, reaching a wide range of fields, such as agriculture, the food industry, cosmetics and the pharmaceutical industry, as well as the textile and aerospace industry.
The micro-capsules release the material inside them during the preparation of other products to potentialize it or to provide a different look to it. For example, in perfumes, an essential oil is micro-encapsulated to provide a non-liquid, but rather solid, formulation, which is applied in a lower concentration, and is easier to handle.
Microencapsulation consists of applying a thin cover in small solid particles, liquid drops, or dispersions, to protect some materials, segregate them or allowing their storage and handling. This can also be done in order to release the covered substance in particular conditions, or in a prolonged, deferred way.
The conditions required for the release of a substance can be moisture, pH, physical strength, or a combination thereof. The particles contained in the micro-capsule have a size between one and 500 microns. The size can be controlled during the manufacturing process.
Microencapsulation is used to alter some of the physical properties of liquids or solids in order to protect them or make them easier to handle. This technique allows oily substances to become solid products. Substance release can be controlled, and the colloidal and superficial properties of substances can be modified.
This also allows the mixture and joint storage of substances that react, or that are incompatible with one another. This is also used to mask bad flavors or smells of substances, and it reduces the volatile characteristics of some substances.
By carrying out a search to determine the closest status of the technique, the following documents were found:
U.S. Pat. No. 6,280,759B1 by Ronald R. Price et al. was found, which was published on Mar. 7, 1989. This patent is related to micro-tubes containing an active agent inside, and compositions that contain such micro-tubes for slow and controlled release of the active agent. These micro-tubes are useful in the production of coating compositions, to protect surfaces that may come into contact with water, adhesive resins for the production of laminated, wooden products, and devices used to release pesticides. This active agent consists of one or more members selected from the group formed by fungicides, herbicides, insecticides, pheromones, hormones, antibiotics, anthelminthic, and antifouling agents.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,881,248B2 was also found, it belongs to Han Lim Lee et al, from Dec. 10, 2002, which is related to a paint composition that can counteract the development of resistance to insecticides in insects, which contain 25 mg to 50 mg of deltamethrin per liter of paint used as first component, 12.5 to 1350 mg of piperonyl butoxide per liter of paint used, and paint, in emulsion, as the third component.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,931,994A by Maria Pilar Mateo Herrero published on Dec. 23, 1996 was also found, which is related to a paint composition used to control plagues and allergens through a chitin synthesis inhibitor, which consists of a mixture from 10 to 40% of weight in water, 5 to 50% of weight in resin, 0.001 to 40% of weight in chitin, 0.001 to 5% of weight in an organophosphate, 1 to 40% of weight in a pigment, 1 to 60% of weight in a carrier material, and 1 to 20% in a stabilizer, where the weight percentages are based on the total weight of the composition, the chitin inhibitor being micro-encapsulated in a resin polymer.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,400,093A by Feinberg Irving, published on Mar. 11, 1966 was also found, which mentions a procedure to manufacture an insecticide polymer, dissolving at least one organic insecticide in at least one polymerizable monomer, such as vinyl. This monomer, and other vinyl-like monomers are included in the polymerization, providing the predominant monomeric units in the polymer, dispersing such monomer in drops through a liquid, oily polymerization medium, in which such monomer is substantially immiscible, and in which such insecticide is substantially insoluble, and polymerizing such monomer by polymerization emulsion techniques, obtaining a stable polymer latex containing small polymer discrete particles, usually solid, containing such insecticide.
Nevertheless, the products mentioned in these documents have competitive disadvantages in comparison to our development, as out formulation has a dual effect in applications such as vinyl paint. This dual effect increases the performance and efficiency of the product. Thanks to this high performance, the efficacy to repel, reduce, and control flying and crawling insects is much higher.
Given the need to count on a powdered additive formulation with double microencapsulation and the incorporation of high-luminosity pigments to repel, reduce, and control insects, the invention herein was developed.